.png)
As we head into the last 7 days of our Verbier summer leagues, 118 matches & 90 rounds of golf have been played, but we still don't have any confirmed winners, remarkable really. Lets take you through each league & division and see who's still in the mix for the prizes on Sunday.
MULTI-SPORTS LEAGUE
Total players in league: 16
Current Leader: Elliot Jones (780)
Likely Winner: Elliot Jones (780)
Anyone else still in with a chance of the title? Yes, Vincent Rayner, Chris Fletcher & Jon Ahlsen.
What about the rest? Josh Glover & Nick Golden have an outside chance, but its highly unlikely.
Summary: Although Jones leads and is the favourite, its far from over. Vinnie Rayner is well in this race still. Ahlsen's chances completely rely on him winning the darts & table tennis, and even then, he'll only be on 600pts. Fletcher is currently 5th, on 432pts, but he could easily make up ground in the darts and table tennis to finish on 600 or 612. Rayner currently has 632, but thats almost certain to drop to 572 after Butler's inevitable badminton win. Question is, can he win the table tennis to finish on 632? Jones has 780 but that includes 300 from darts, which could well drop to 180 (640). He also remains 2nd in the tennis, but Kimber could well overtake him to leave Jones with just 192 (592). I make Jones slight favourite, then Rayner, Fletcher & Ahlsen. Reece Foxon won last year with 900pts, winning golf, table tennis & tennis, incredible. Jones was 2nd with 672, Fletcher 3rd on 620.
BADMINTON
Total players in league: 6
Current Leader: Vincent Rayner (10pts)
Likely Winner: Michael Butler (8pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance of the title? No,
What about the rest? Senna Foxon plays Ivan Gaudron tomorrow which looks to be the battle to avoid last place. Graham Walkley will finish 3rd, Michelle Fox likely 4th.
Summary: Vinnie Rayner has played all his matches, he won 4, but crucially lost to Butler in straight sets. Butler just has Ivan Gaudron to play, who's currently bottom, but only played once. The match is due to be played tomorrow, the equation is simple, any win for Butler and hes champion. Any win for Gaudron and Rayner takes the title, as he won a vital halfway bonus point.
DARTS
Total players in league: 8
Current Leader: Elliot Jones (8pts)
Likely Winner: David Dos Santos (6pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance of the title? Yes: Olly Murchington, Chris Fletcher & Jon Ahlsen.
What about the rest? All top 5 places are still wide open, but Jephson is likely to be 6th, Smidova 7th & S.Foxon 8th.
Summary: This one is still pretty wide open, it may come down to who has played more matches. Jones leads but hes lost 2. Murchington is 2nd but hes lost 3, his hopes rely on him beating Dos Santos in his last match and hoping Jones doesn't play his last game, or loses badly to Fletcher and the chasing pack don't play enough games. Fletcher & Dos Santos have both won 3/3, but doubt remains over whether they can complete their matches, you feel they both need at least 2 more wins to be in with a chance. Jon Ahlsen has played won 2, lost 1, he needs 3 more wins realistically, but he is more than capable of getting them. The picture will be a lot clearer tomorrow after the weekly darts tournament in Verbier at Pub Mont Fort.
GOLF
Total players in the league: 10
Current leader: Chris Hindle (-3)
Likely Winner: Chris Hindle (-3)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Not really
What about the rest? Josh Glover has an outside chance of 2nd still, but is 5 shots behind Jones. 4th place is still up for grabs, with Van Sminia, Duckworth, Watt, Thomson & Wilhelmsson still in the hunt.
Summary: This one is about as close to over as any of our leagues. Hindle has a massive 19 shot lead over 2nd placed Elliot Jones, and hes already broken all of Reece Foxon's scores & results from last summer. A great performance.
TABLE TENNIS
Total players in the league: 10
Current leader: Gaetan Fabrot (14)
Likely Winner: Jon Ahlsen (11)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Yes, Vinnie Rayner, Nick Golden & Chris Fletcher.
What about the rest? S.Foxon will finish bottom, Goodlass likely 9th, Jones 8th with Rounthwaite & Glover scrapping for 6th.
Summary: Again, another league still wide open. Fabrot is top, but he is pretty much out of the title hunt, unless no more matches get played. Anyway, hes played all his matches, won 6, lost 3. Rayner is 2nd (13pts), with just Rounthwaite to play. Golden is 3rd (12pts) with 2 matches to play. Ahslen, the favourite, has won 5/5 (11pts) but has 4 matches to play, one is a massive one too, he still has to play Golden, who has only lost once. Fletcher has an outside chance but with only 6pts, he needs to win all his remaining 4 matches to have any chance and that includes a meeting with Ahlsen.
TENNIS PL:
Total players in the league: 8
Current leader: Jack Hall (11pts)
Likely Winner: Jack Hall (11pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Not really, but mathematically, Glover & Kimber.
What about the rest? Golden will almost certainly finish 8th, Paternot withdrew with injury and will likely finish 7th. Horsfall & Rounthwaite are scrapping for 5th. Elliot Jones will likely finish 3rd, but has a chance of still finishing 2nd or 4th.
Summary: Jack Hall beat Matt Kimber to essentially win the league, but he still needs to win 1 more match to guarantee the title, and with that either against Rounthwaite or Golden, its highly likely. Glover would have to beat Kimber to stand any chance of winning.
TENNIS D1:
Total players in the league: 6
Current leader: Gaetan Fabrot (7pts)
Likely Winner: Gaetan Fabrot (7pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Actually yes, mathematically every player in the division can still win the title.
Summary: This division saw a lot of matches played early but not a lot recently. Pippa O'Neil hasn't played any matches yet but does have at least 2 scheduled in her diary for this week, so it remains to be seen how she gets on. Fabrot still has to play Barkes, who has already lost 2. Kirill Starkov is 2nd with 2 wins from 3. Patrick Ashworth is 3rd with 1 win from 3. Ellina Knudsen is 4th with just 1 loss, but she is carrying an injury and looks unlikely to play any more matches. The winner of this division depends largely on the outcome of Fabrot v O'Neil. O'Neil is scheduled to play Ashworth tomorrow.
TENNIS D2
Total players in the league: 7
Current leader: Vincent Rayner (10pts)
Likely Winner: Vincent Rayner (10pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Mathematically Myles Greenwood, Alfie Sawyer & Alexis JT.
What about the rest? Bottom place should be between Michael Butler & James Duckworth, but Alexis JT is down there at the moment with 1 loss. Amanda Van Kersbergen is currently 3rd but thats the highest she can finish.
Summary: Rayner has 5 wins from 5, but still needs to beat Alexis in his last match to guarantee the title, if he was to lose, Greenwood could snatch the title from him by beating Sawyer, but then it would come down to sets & games difference. Sawyer has 4 matches remaining by needs to win them all to have a chance. Alexis has 5 matches remaining but again needs to win them all to have a chance. Alfie & Alexis do have the ability to do just that, but the bigger question is can they get the matches played? Alexis v Amanda is scheduled for Wednesday.
TENNIS D3
Total players in the league: 8
Current leader: Stephanie Hendzel (6pts)
Likely Winner: Hendzel or Graham James (2pts)
Anyone else still in with a chance? Yes, Alice Green & Dummer Gonzalez.
What about the rest? India Bromley, Alex Churton & Fiona Jeffrey-Sinclair all withdrew for different reasons. Bromley actually remains 2nd, Churton & FJS will finish in the bottom two. Nicole Cadigan is likely to finish 6th.
Summary: Hendzel has a big advantage with 6pts on the board. Her nearest rivals, Green & James only have 2 pts but they are both still in with a chance. Green still has to finish a match with Gonzalez, which is 1 set all. But doubts remain over Gonzalez's fitness after a back injury. The good news is, there are matches scheduled for Tuesday morning, with Green & Cadigan hoping to play Gonzalez & James. that could mean 4 matches get played and that would go a long way to deciding the outcome of this division. But i feel it could all come down to a match between Hendzel & James.
MIXED DOUBLES
Teams entered: 14
Final to be played: Becky Duckett/Josh Glover (1) v Alice Green/Alfie Sawyer (2)
The top seeds meet in the final, but we have given them leeway to finish after the deadline. It is a final after all? Duckett & Glover are the favourites, unbeaten last year and they beat Alice Green 6-4, 6-4 when she partnered Elliot Jones in 2018.
Consolation Final: Lovissa Nilsson/Myles Greenwood v C.Blyth/B.Morison or C.Peters/H.Ebelis.
The semi final is due to be played on Wednesday or Thursday. It could go either way, but Blyth & Morison already have 1 win under their belt. Nilsson & Greenwood are favourites for the final.
TENNIS KNOCKOUT CUP
Players entered: 12
Final to be played: Elliot Jones v Jack Hall or Kirill Starkov
Jones beat Glover & Fletcher to reach the final. Hall meets Starkov in the other semi, and Hall is a huge favourite to win the whole thing after beating Jones 6-1, 6-0 in their league match.
So thats it! Who do you think will win? Feel free to comment on our blog or any of our social media platforms. #EJMSL
Instagram: @EJSML